Research and Development of Process Knowledge Management System in OKP Company

Abstract

The coming of knowledge-based economic era has greatly changed manufacturing environment. Knowledge has become the most important and valuable asset for manufacturing companies. For most of One-of-a-Kind Production (OKP) companies, innovation based on knowledge is their opportunity and the sharpest competitive weapon to compete and thrive in current global market-driven environment. Process knowledge is a special type of knowledge that controls how products are manufactured. The knowledge may help OKP companies manufacture high value-added products with best quality and shorter times at competitive cost. Managing process knowledge is very important, and its benefits are enormous. This paper proposes a framework and definition of Process Knowledge Management System (PKMS) after analysis of the characteristics of process knowledge and requirements in OKP companies. A hybrid approach aiming at representation of three main types of process knowledge is discussed. One of the ways for representing dynamic process flow knowledge is introduced in detail, which is solved using an approach based on Parameter Flow Charts (PFC). The proposed approach supports experts to create knowledge repository themselves. A prototype system is developed to validate the proposed framework and approach.